


The Earthbender

by voidEnthusiast



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Homestuck
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:22:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25194607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voidEnthusiast/pseuds/voidEnthusiast
Summary: Many centuries ago, the Avatar Cycle turned its great wheel once again, this time settling upon a strange young earthbender known only as Jade.
Relationships: Jade Harley & Dave Strider, Jade Harley & Rose Lalonde, John Egbert & Jade Harley, The Beta Kids (Homestuck) & Each Other
Kudos: 9





	1. Frost [Prelude: Years in the Past, But Not Many]

**Author's Note:**

> My first serious attempt at writing fic. Any and all constructive criticism is appreciated. I hope you enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the prologue, so it's in past tense (and much shorter than a normal chapter).

Five monks trudged through the snow.

An esteemed elemental disciple of each nation was present, able to sense latent bending ability. Right now, though, all they could really sense was the frigid cold of a northern Earth Kingdom winter.

There was a second firebender, a venerable and short-tempered man. His clothes and hair were ragged, but the monks walked with him as an equal.

After a while, they arrived near a small shack well off the rural footpath. _This is it_ , the group confirmed with each other, _this is the place that’s been lighting up the Spirit World like a beacon since the passing of Avatar Pyrope._

The old man went ahead, rapping on the door. “Mind letting in a weary traveller in this bad weather?” he called.

A middle-aged peasant woman, swaddling a baby, opened the door with a cheerful expression. “Yes, come in, come in!”

The old man shut the door behind himself, waiting for the inevitable question. It would come right about...

“Who are you,” the woman asked, “and why were you outside in that dreadful snowstorm?”

...now.

He put on his best commanding voice, though it was a mere echo of his brash younger self. “My name is Karkat, firebending teacher to the late Avatar Pyrope and uncle of the reigning Fire Lord. I have reason to believe that your child is the reborn Avatar.”

Of all the emotions Karkat had expected the mother’s face to show- bewildered, horrified, excited- he hadn’t prepared for what to do if she suddenly became _furious_ , getting right up in his face. “No, you are wrong. My little Jade will not consort with those filthy, earth-hating savages in the other nations. Get out of here with your superstitious mumbo-jumbo.” A man sitting in a chair in the corner, whom Karkat hadn’t noticed, got up and started what the elder dimly recognized as an earthbending attack pose. As a chunk of loose dirt knocked him right out of the shack, she laughed. “Get out, ash-maker! I hope you freeze to death out there!”

“Such cruelty, and hidden in such a nice-seeming woman... the world really is doomed if that’s who’s raising the Avatar,” Karkat muttered darkly.

He walked off into the evening.


	2. The Beginning of Something Really Excellent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is a song from the Homestuck soundtrack, one of Jade's themes.

The monks come back. Sixteen years after their first visit to the Earth Kingdom shack, their number is down to four.

Something else is different, too. The former newborn is now a young woman. Raised by peasants and ancient spirits, she is ready to face the world.

"So, you see, you must come with us."

“No! Absolutely not! My daughter is staying here!”

“But Mom... I’ve never told anyone about the visions, and if what they’re saying is true, it’s my destiny to save the world!”

The middle-aged woman snorts. “They’re just traveling con-men. You should be proud of your earthbending ability, not trying to supplement it with... with _primitive_ powers.”

“Primitive?” sputters one of the disciples. “All four bending disciplines are ancient and noble arts! You should be ashamed of yourself!”

Her mother laughs. Jade looks on helplessly as her only chance at understanding the mysterious visions- of the blind lady, and the man with fluttering wings- is unceremoniously shoved out the door.

That night, Jade runs away. It’s the right thing to do. If she really is the Avatar, then the spirit world will be better off with her help.

She sleeps under the stars, bag laid out as a makeshift pillow. A spirit from deep within her mind interrupts an unpleasant dream.

“Jade,” begins the lady in teal and red, “you are about to begin a sacred journey, one of travel, hardship, and self-discovery. You must make this journey on your own, with only the friends you make along the way.”

She begins to fade, and as she does, the nightmare resumes. Her voice resounds from all corners of the dream. “Me and my predecessors will only appear to you when it is absolutely necessary from now on. I hope your time as the Bridge Between Worlds serves you better than mine did... Avatar Jade.”

She wakes up in a cold sweat. On the horizon, the sun’s first rays glisten. 

Jade has the profound feeling of being far out of her depth.

* * *

Acting on instinct, Jade makes her way southwest, towards the Fire Nation. Her father, for all his faults, taught her to earthbend very well. It would be best to start her journey with the next element in the cycle.

The Nation is situated on an island chain. She knows about-

 _a place of cowardice and hate, where the element of pure destruction is harnessed by fools too short-sighted to use it for anything other than personal gain_ , ranted her mother.

 _the true centerpiece of the world, a prosperous and scenic state of law and order... but wrought with dynastic struggles and political intrigue,_ reminisced the spirit draped in yellow ribbons.

Jade has no reliable information at all about the Fire Nation.

She buys passage on a merchant ship going to West Chung-Ling, allegedly famous for its coal exports. Coal burns easily, she reckons, so somewhere with a lot of it is somewhere that the firebenders need to have discipline.

Upon disembarking, she wanders around for a while, taking in the strange sights, unfamiliar sounds, and horrible smells. She is well and truly alone in the city, a singular earthbender with fire on every side.

And there is fire on every side, indeed. All around her, firebending is being used in every conceivable way. Fireplaces are being lit. Food is being cooked. Kids are running around laughing and playing a game of some sort, shooting blasts of heat through hoops. As evening sets in, people all throughout the city light torches and lamps, some individuals walking around just by the flickering illumination of a flame in their palms. It’s a magical sight totally unlike anything the sheltered Earth Kingdom peasant has ever seen.

It becomes increasingly clear that she has nowhere to sleep. The sailors were kind enough to give her a bit of jerky in exchange for helping maintain the ship, but her supply is running out fast. All the money she brought is in Earth Kingdom copper yuan coins, worthless here. A stray thought passes through her mind.

Jade sits down on the sidewalk of an intersection, presses her palms to the ground, and pulls. Swirls of dirt cast alien shadows in front of a nearby streetlight. Patterns of earth wheel through the air, pushed along by nothing but the willpower of a solitary teenager. 

A few passers-by toss odd, glinting coins at the demonstration. Jade marvels at how they can be so amazed by something as mundane as earthbending when everything else around them is exciting and unique. 

Half an hour into her abstract performance, with the full moon high and bright in the sky, trouble comes around the corner. _Trouble_ is wearing a strange hat and triangular eye coverings. As soon as he sees the display, his face contorts into a hateful expression.

“Filthy earth-thug!” he screams. Oddly, his tone reminds Jade of her own mother. “Go back to your mudpit! Don’t pollute our civilized town!” A blast of flame is sent down the street, barely missing her outstretched arm. The dirt suspended in the air falls, forming a protective layer behind her as she runs toward an alley. It seems the guy is determined to get rid of her, though, so she stomps and grabs more earth out of the road. The fight has somehow already attracted a bit of a crowd.

He sends out another attack. This one cracks and shatters the barrier she hastily throws out. _Something about his fire is different from the kind the normal citizens were using,_ Jade thinks. _It’s hotter and drier- angrier, somehow._ She maintains the defensive until spotting an opportunity to duck away into the alley. 

A couple of the shiny, ornate coins gain her a week’s use of the room above someone’s restaurant. Jade falls right onto the bare mattress on the floor. She’ll take inventory in the morning. For now, sleeping on something other than bare earth or wooden planks is a pleasure she hasn’t had for several weeks.

* * *

A couple days later, Jade is walking back towards her apartment after finishing another performance downtown when she’s approached by a kid her age covered in scrapes and burn scars. He’s wearing a pair of smoke-stained lenses over his eyes, and the clear familial resemblance to the nationalist from earlier makes her uneasy. 

His voice is heavily accented, but sharp and confident. “You’re that earthbender my Bro almost beat up the other day, ain’tcha?”

“What, come to finish the job?” Jade snaps. She’s already mentally sifting through the earth around her to prepare for a fight.

“Whoa, I didn’t mean _that!_ ” (His accent turns _mean_ into _meeun_. Jade decides he is cool enough to trust, and loosens her concentration on the ground.) “Listen- name’s Dave. I’m real sorry for whatever he did. Bro can get a bit... intense at times. I’ll make it up to ya by buyin’ lunch at a place I know he never goes.”

For his many faults, Dave’s Bro apparently has good taste in restaurants, as the ‘place he never goes’ seems to specialize in burnt food. Over a blackened square that was once a sandwich, the boy asks her, “So what brings ya to the Fire Nation?”

There’s no time to think of an alibi, and Jade doesn’t feel like lying to him. “Well, I’m the new Avatar. I’m coming here to learn firebending. Haven’t really... done much Avatar stuff yet, though.”

The boy snorts. “Nearly had me goin’ for a moment there. Be honest, wh-”

_thump_

The sound comes from the roof. Everyone in the little restaurant glances up instinctively. Ducking out of the building, Jade sees a familiar sight above her.

“Becquerel!” she gasps. “You must have flown all the way from back home! Aww, c’mere boy.”

As the giant white eagle-husky licks her affectionately, Dave stares out of the door with an expression of total disbelief. 

“No way...” he boggles. “The... the real Avatar! I’m-” Dave seems to pull himself together. “Want me to teach you some firebendin’ moves?”

* * *

The first three leaves crumble to ash, but Jade manages to keep the fourth’s flame going for over an hour.


End file.
